From solidarity, to sustainability, to spiritual impact, we love to hear our clients’ reflections on how Christ-centered microfinance is making a difference in their lives—and we think you will too.
“Normally when you are married, your wife or your husband is the one who takes care of you. … The group members became like my husband. When I fall sick, they are the first ones to come and visit me and help me in each and every thing. They support me emotionally, physically, and psychologically.” – Marthe Myiramuhire, Rwanda
We love to see our clients stepping up to support one another and then hear them bragging on one another. Members of HOPE’s savings groups and community banks often become like families for one another, as this widowed woman from Rwanda testified.
“If you would give me 20,000 pesos [$525], I could buy clothes and food for my family, but then what? … Instead, Esperanza [HOPE’s partner in the Dominican Republic] gave me motivation.” – Angela Mercedes, Dominican Republic
Our clients get it. They understand the difference between help for today and a long-term, sustainable investment in their dreams, and they count it a privilege to have the opportunity to work hard to meet their own needs.
“As a result of getting loans from HOPE and using them in our business, we can show society that we are … helping ourselves and we are not indebted or dependent to someone else. … As a result of taking loans now my two children are going to school.” – Farshad*, Afghanistan
Parents express true dignity when they’re providing for their own children. We believe that work is part of God’s plan for provision and that dignity and independence are the result.
“We are not afraid of difficulties. Let difficulties be afraid of us!” – Svetlana Shepeleva, Ukraine
Part of what microfinance does so well is create safety nets. Before coming to HOPE, most of our clients had reason to fear challenges they might confront: One illness, natural disaster, or financial misstep might mean pulling their children from school, going without needed food or medication, or becoming indebted to a loan shark. Now many clients have savings, support, and the means to withstand the challenges they might encounter.
“HOPE International’s loans solved the great and urgent need I had for capital for my business. But also the knowledge of HOPE International staff allowed me to come to know the Lord, and that is the most beautiful blessing.” – Cheng Sun*, China
“What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” (Matthew 16:26) We are thrilled when we help a client escape material poverty—a departure from the abundant life God desires—but we realize that any physical change is temporary. It is our privilege to share the love of Jesus with our clients and see Him touch hearts and change lives for eternity!
Emalinda, standing, and two employees make buko salad.
When Emalinda Ramos acquired “Kim Joy’s Buko Juice” from a relative 12 years ago, the business was struggling. With a background in marketing, Emalinda quickly uncovered a weakness in the company’s strategy: They were transporting the buko juice—or coconut water, a popular beverage in the Philippines—to distant markets, where significant competition drove down prices. Instead, Emalinda began to think creatively about opportunities that existed closer to home.
She contacted the owners of local factories and arranged to sell the buko juice in their cafeterias, where workers came to enjoy a mid-morning break or to eat lunch. It quickly became popular among the Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese managers, who were familiar with its health benefits. To meet increasing demand, Emalinda sought a loan from the Center for Community Transformation, HOPE’s partner in the Philippines, to purchase more coconut, sugar, and plastic cups in which to serve her juice.
As the business grew, Emalinda continued to look for ways to increase productivity. The juice used only part of the coconut, and while she was able to give some of the unused coconut meat to neighbors or local piggeries, most was discarded. To avoid this waste, Emalinda began selling buko salad, a popular dessert in the Philippines made from coconut meat. And because the salad was difficult to eat without silverware, Emalinda invented a frozen buko salad that could be eaten much like a popsicle. In 2007, Emalinda sought a larger loan from CCT to buy a truck, which she uses to transport fresh, whole coconuts more than 50 miles from the farms of Batangas to the markets of metro Manila.
For Emalinda and her husband, one of the biggest blessings of the loans has been the ability to reunite their family. Because of limited employment opportunities in the Philippines, her husband had joined the many Filipinos seeking work in other countries in order to support their family. Thanks to Emalinda’s business growth, he was able to return home from Saudi Arabia and play a more active role in raising their three children.
Today Emalinda employs seven workers in addition to her husband. Her school-age children are receiving an education, as are her employees’ children. Emalinda strives to honor God in her business, closing each Sunday. “I want myself and the workers to have time for God,” Emalinda explains. “I can see God moving in my life, and I want the workers to also experience this.”
For those living in the lowest castes in India, there is little hope for the future. With few resources, many become trapped by moneylenders, who ensnare not only the current generation but also their children and their children’s children. In this video interview with the director of HOPE’s partner in India*, he explains how Savings and Credit Associations (SCAs) provide not only economic opportunities but also renewed hope for the future.
In the below Q&A, HOPE’s president, Peter Greer, speaks about international adoption, his new book, and the intersection of microenterprise development and orphan care.
You recently spoke at the Christian Alliance for Orphans’ annual Summit at Saddleback Church. As president of HOPE, how does your work tie to the global orphan crisis? Adoption has forever changed our family. But as powerful as international adoption is, and as much as it has changed our family, we know that it only reaches a small number of the children globally who need a home. My “day job” at HOPE helps mothers and fathers start or expand small businesses so that they can work their way out of poverty and provide for their children. My hope is that the faith-based adoption community and the faith-based development community will realize how much overlap they have in heart and desired outcomes.
What did you speak about at the conference? According to UNICEF, there were 132 million orphans living in developing countries in 2008—132 million children dearly loved by God who need a home. But studies have also found that many children in orphanages have a surviving family member who could provide them that home. In Zimbabwe, for example, 40 percent of children in orphanages have a surviving parent, and nearly 60 percent have a contactable relative. The orphan crisis is interconnected with poverty. Parents put their children in institutional care because they don’t have enough money to care for their children. The solution isn’t building more orphanages but rather helping parents earn enough income so that they can care for their children. What parent would prefer for their child to grow up in an orphanage if they had the resources to care for them on their own? We need to broaden the discussion about the orphan crisis to include employment-based solutions that help families work their way out of poverty.
What are some examples you’ve seen of access to financial services leading to better care for orphans? Some of the best examples I’ve seen are HOPE’s clients. I think of Mama Atiya in the Democratic Republic of Congo, who was left with no resources to provide for her six children when her husband died. A $55 loan from HOPE helped Mama Atiya break into the smoked fish business. She buys fish in bulk, enabling her to offer good prices and function as a wholesaler. Two years and seven loans later, she is the proud owner of an apartment and can afford to educate all her school-aged children. But not only is she taking care of her own children, she has also adopted four children from her community. What an amazing example of low-cost, local orphan care!
You also recently published Mommy’s Heart Went POP! An Adoption Story, a children’s book on international adoption. What led you to write this book? When my wife, Laurel, and I were in the process of adopting our son Myles from Rwanda, our daughter asked why mommy’s belly wasn’t getting bigger like so many other mommies. We used the language that adoption causes mommy’s heart to get bigger. When we finally held our son, all the love that we had been holding came pouring out, and it literally felt like mommy’s heart popped.
We discovered that there are so few resources available for families who adopt internationally. When our friend Christina Kyllonen sent us this story after we brought our son home, we felt that it needed to be shared with many more people. We have had the joy of working with friends to bring the book to life, and our hope is that it will touch many! The funds we raise through this book all go to the rubymyles fund to help other families adopt or to support local initiatives like HOPE that help bring children into homes.
In addition to serving as president & CEO of HOPE International, Peter is co-author of The Poor Will Be Glad (Zondervan, 2009) and blogs at www.peterkgreer.com. Peter and his wife, Laurel, have three children, two biological and one adopted from Rwanda, and they live in Lancaster, Pa. Follow him on Twitter @peterkgreer.
“Hello – My name is Fabia, how are you today?” That is all it took for my wife, Anne, to decide where she would purchase her gas once we had moved to Kigali, Rwanda. Today, we both make a real effort to return and visit Fabia. It is not because of “high performance petrol” but to enjoy and encourage the kind interaction that comes with Fabia’s consistently great customer service.
The leaders in Rwanda often publically state: “Customer service in Rwanda must improve.” This is a complaint I have heard all over the world—and very often in the USA. My belief is that customer service usually originates within the person as a sincere desire to serve and bless others, and HOPE provides clients in Rwanda training on customer service as an extension of the biblical Golden Rule: “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31). Logistically, it is much easier to provide great customer service in the developed world. Large industrial freezers with pre-cut meat and vegetables allow for quick delivery in restaurants. Fully integrated supply chains help make sure your favorite Superstore is never out of stock, and the simple swipe of credit cards ensure not coming up short on change will never be a problem Another shining example of great customer service can be seen in Emmanuel’s photography business.
Emmanuel used loans from his Savings and Credit Association to purchase a camera that he used to take pictures primarily for passports and visas. He’s since expanded to photographing weddings and family gatherings. After paying off the camera, he invested in a small printer that allows him to print on demand and reduces the time and costs of public transportation to access the nearest developer. This story became “customer service-relevant” when I asked him about the stack of unclaimed photos sitting next to his printer. “If they don’t like the photo, I don’t make them pay – but this lets them know I can be trusted and makes me sure they are happy.” I continue to be incredibly encouraged by the many great “customer servants” in Rwanda.
Chris Ordway is a senior technical advisor based in Kigali, Rwanda, focused on HOPE’s Savings and Credit Associations throughout the country. He and his wife and three daughters moved to Kigali last August. Chris loves to tell people that Rwanda is safe and clean and that during his time in Rwanda he has had nothing but warmth and kindness from EVERY person that he has had the blessing to meet.
We apologize for any confusion caused by our International Women’s Day email subject line, “Give women the chance to choose,” on March 8. The subject line references a line from the email celebrating with HOPE’s female clients that God has worked through Christ-centered microfinance to give them “the chance to choose” a better life for themselves, their children, and their communities.
by Madelyn Houser, grant writer
Today, on International Women’s Day, people around the world celebrate the strength, resilience, and dignity of women. It may seem hard to celebrate when there are still many women who are beaten, denied schooling, forced into marriage, used, abused, and mistreated. But HOPE believes that God loves each of these women and that women can make a powerful difference in their communities when given the chance. That’s why 82 percent of the over 380,000 clients HOPE serves are women—women, like Dyna Uwizeye, who are using their God-given skills to transform entire communities.
Before joining HOPE, Dyna and her husband owned a small bakery in Bugarama, Rwanda. In 2009, with a $167 loan from Urwego Opportunity Bank (HOPE’s partner in Rwanda), Dyna expanded the bakery, increased her business profits, and started saving. With subsequent loans, along with personal savings, Dyna opened a supermarket, built a house, and continues to invest in her bakery.
Just four years later, Dyna now employs 45 Rwandans between her two stores. Two manage the supermarket, while 43 work in the bakery. Of this number, 13 are employed to distribute bread to towns throughout Rwanda and into neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. In a nation where women are often dependent on their husbands, Dyna is feeding families across Africa and challenging the idea that women are helpless.
Dyna knows that God blessed her businesses in order to be a blessing to others. In addition to supporting her five children, Dyna adopted three orphans from her village. She sends all eight of her children to school or vocational training and helps pay her brother’s high school tuition. One of her children even attends a top university in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital. By educating her children, Dyna is breaking the cycle of poverty for her family and her nation.
In addition to financial and social transformation, Dyna says that participating in group meetings centered on biblical teaching and prayer has tremendously enhanced her spiritual life. She attributes all her success to God and thanks HOPE International for providing the resources for her to begin stepping out of physical and spiritual poverty.
Though women continue to suffer violence and injustice, HOPE works diligently to ensure that women like Dyna have a chance to thrive. Through HOPE’s Christ-centered microfinance, and by the grace of God, stories like Dyna’s are not unusual. And that is truly something to celebrate.
Madelyn has worked as a grant writer at HOPE since September 2011. She loves writing about the impact of Christ-centered microfinance and sharing stories of transformation with current and potential HOPE supporters.
Block by block, Aleyda Torres Constanzo built her Christian school “Light of the Future” in the community of La Romana, Dominican Republic. Progress was slow and measured, but destruction was unhesitating when Hurricane George tore it down in 1998, just two years into the school’s operations. Aleyda’s students finished the school year in a classroom covered by a tarp. “Parents didn’t let that deter them from sending their children here,” she explains. On the contrary, “What they saw was the quality of education and the determination that we had.”
Government schools in the Dominican Republic are notoriously underfunded and inadequate, and even in the poorest communities, many parents will sacrifice a significant portion of their limited income to ensure a good education for their children. In La Romana, Aleyda’s school has grown rapidly, from just 40 students in 1996 to over 230 this time last year. To ease overcrowded classrooms and meet the demand for continued growth, Aleyda sought a loan from HOPE’s partner in the Dominican Republic, Esperanza International, to build additional classroom space. With funding through a partnership with Edify—a nonprofit dedicated to providing small-business loans to low-cost, sustainable Christian schools—Esperanza was able to fulfill her loan request for $2,600, well above their average community bank loan of $315.
Edify is committed not only to funding affordable Christian schools but also to equipping their teachers and administrators with training and strong, effective curriculum. Part of the loan disbursement process for Aleyda entailed participating in training with her loan officer and an Esperanza accountant, learning how to improve cash flow, manage expenses, and enroll more students. Aleyda approached the relatively large loan anxiously, understanding the serious commitment she was undertaking but trusting in the vision God had given her for the school. Her confidence and peace surged when her loan officer and branch manager joined hands with her in prayer. “No other organization or bank I have ever known has done that, or would do that,” she says. “I know that this money is really in God’s hands.”
As quickly as Aleyda built classrooms, they filled. She now employs 16 teachers. Enrollment has surged to 440 students, and last year 25 of her pupils came to know Jesus through devotionals the school offers three times a week. For Aleyda, this is all part of her mission. “It’s not just about having a place of teaching. It’s about having a clinic for the soul,” she explains with great conviction.
Several months after the first loan, additional capital from Edify enabled Aleyda to add 11 computer work stations to her school, meeting the final government requirement to graduate a senior class. Aleyda’s first senior class will graduate this spring with a strong educational and spiritual foundation. While celebrating this accomplishment, Aleyda is already looking toward her next goal: enrolling 2,000 students. “Even though it may seem impossible, when God puts something in your heart, He is going to carry it out.”
Photo credits:
Aleyda – Todd Pinkston
Jill – Jimmy Pham
Jill has been privileged to work with HOPE as a writer for six years. One of the first clients she met had used her small loan to start a Christian school, capturing Jill’s imagination for what could be achieved through Christ-centered microfinance.
Thirty-six-year-old Guerrier Gulma sounds like he could work for Esperanza International, HOPE’s partner in Haiti, when he says, “Creating employment is always a good thing for the community.” Since he began receiving small business loans and basic business training from Esperanza less than two years ago, Guerrier has already created two jobs through his printing and photocopy shop in Trou-du-Nord, Haiti.
Guerrier’s business, La Reference Multiservice, fills a need in Trou-du-Nord, with the next nearest photocopy shop 30 minutes away in Cap Haitien. His busy shop reflects customers’ gratitude for the availability of this service, and Guerrier’s relations with customers have only grown stronger through the biblically based trainings his loan offer provided on the importance of honesty, integrity, and respect for others in business.
In addition to providing jobs, Guerrier used his loans to expand his shop’s inventory. With an initial loan of $200, Guerrier bought a new printer. An additional loan of $250 enabled him to expand his stock of paper and begin selling related computer accessories like CDs and USB drives, buying in bulk to get better prices. He’s also been able to maintain and fuel a generator, keeping his business operational through frequent power outages.
The profits from La Reference have given Guerrier something he never had before: margin. In the past, if a machine needed repairs, Guerrier couldn’t always afford them, and his business was significantly hindered. Now he has extra funds set aside to help him deal with repairs or other unexpected challenges. His profits have also enabled Guerrier to eat better and purchase needed medications. He says he has noticed a significant improvement in his health. He has also been able to buy nicer clothing, which has built his confidence.
With growing confidence, Guerrier is dreaming big dreams. He’d like to open an internet café in Trou-du-Nord: the first of its kind. He also hopes to expand his photocopy business to other towns in northeastern Haiti that lack these services. “With Esperanza we have come a long way,” he says. “But we have not arrived yet. I will keep working with Esperanza until we arrive where we want to be.”
I landed here in Manila on the 22nd of October, and two things leaped out at me as soon as I left the airport. The first was people. In 2006, Forbes magazine ranked Manila as the single most densely populated city in the world, with 112,000 people per square mile. Compare this with New York City’s 27,500 people per square mile (or Beijing’s 80,000 people per square mile), and you can begin to get a feel for the number of people crammed into this place. The second thing was poverty. This was expected to a large degree, but I still found myself startled by many of the sights inside a country where 45 percent of the population lives on less that $2 per day.
The good news, however, is that there is remarkable work being done throughout the country to address the situation. CCT is the local organization that partners with HOPE International to do microfinance and other poverty relief work in the Philippines. I have been operating out of their headquarters for the past two weeks, and I cannot overstate the positive impact of their work. CCT targets different levels of poverty through three major domains: microfinance for the highest tier of the poor, savings and credit associations for the lowest tier, and rehabilitation centers for street dwellers. I think it will be easiest for you to get a feel for how some of these domains work together through the story of Michael, whom I had the privilege of meeting after assisting with my first savings and credit meeting last Tuesday.
Before starting with CCT, Michael was a street dweller. He had lived on the streets of Manila for nine years and had no formal education outside of elementary school. At the age of 26, Michael enrolled in CCT’s rehabilitation center, where he broke his drug addiction and received food, shelter, and discipleship. Upon completion of the program, Michael began work as a delivery man for CCT’s water bottling center and joined a savings and credit association. After demonstrating an ability to manage his income, Michael was directed to the microfinance department, where he received a small loan which provided him with enough capital to begin his own water distribution business. He completed the last payment on his loan in August of this year, and today he purchases and sells his water without any financial assistance from CCT. With the profit from his business, Michael buys his own food and clothing and rents a room at a nearby boarding house.
When I first observed the improved lifestyles of clients—ones absent of air conditioning, cars, computers, cell phones, and TVs—the change seemed small and incomplete. However, after witnessing the restored dignity that comes after becoming fully self-sufficient, I was able to appreciate the complete change that was taking place. Those who were once dependent upon help from charities and churches are now making contributions. Combine this with the fact that nearly all of these clients are being discipled in their relationships with Christ, and you can see why it is called holistic community transformation.
…we are reposting Henri’s* story, which we first shared in 2008. An HIV-positive Haitian living in the Dominican Republic, Henri turned several loans from Esperanza, HOPE’s partner in the D.R., into new opportunities for himself and his family.
Statistics suggest that 1 in every 100 Dominicans is HIV-positive. In the largely Haitian-occupied sugarcane plantations, or bateys, that are common to the island, the percentage grows increasingly dismal, with estimates ranging from 5 to 12 of every 100 residents. What statistics cannot capture is the despair and fear that come with the diagnosis and spread like an epidemic to family members and friends of infected individuals. When Henri, who lives in a batey community on the Dominican Republic’s northern coast, first learned that he had contracted the virus 10 years ago, he grew increasingly alone. His neighbors rejected him, he and his wife eventually separated, and the couple’s three children stayed with their mother.
Five years later, Henri’s wife passed away, leaving their children orphaned and alone. Because of his faith in God, Henri recognized his responsibility to these children and took them in, though, within his community, abdicating his fatherly responsibilities would have been accepted and understood. Henri’s status as an HIV-positive Haitian left him a victim of great discrimination and stigma, without a steady source of income. Though he tried to provide for his children, they were sick and frail from malnourishment. He could not send them to school because there was no money for pencils, notebooks, and uniforms.
Through a loan from Esperanza International, HOPE’s partner in the Dominican Republic, he built a business in his home selling basic items like rice, flour, and vegetables. The business grew steadily with additional capital infusions, and his ability to feed and provide for his children grew concurrently. After receiving four loans for his convenience store, Henri decided to begin selling used clothing and shoes on the streets because this form of employment allowed him more time to interact with and raise his children. It also gave him more time for a cause that is close to his heart: providing counseling at a local clinic for those who have recently been diagnosed as HIV-positive.
Henri says that his status as a business owner has helped him gain respect in the community. Through his connection to Esperanza, Henri has also gained access to the antiretroviral drugs that he needs to keep the virus at bay. Thanks to regular medical treatment and a positive outlook on life, Henri leads a very normal and productive life. This summer he married an HIV-negative woman and became stepfather to her three children.
His wife and stepchildren are a great help in his business, and with his next loan he will be able to reopen his convenience store with their assistance. He now volunteers four days a week at the clinic, helping other men and women confront the difficult diagnosis that could so easily become a death sentence if they fail to acknowledge the disease and seek appropriate treatment.
With six children and a wife to care for, money is still extremely tight for Henri. He prays constantly for God’s guidance and help in providing for his family, but he has also experienced God’s faithfulness in the past and His grace through the loan officer who treated him as an equal when others slighted him for his race or his disease. As a father, provider, counselor, new husband, and business owner, Henri faces the future with joy.
